The Titanium Titans: Under Cover Of Darkness
by damian111
Summary: The continued adventures of the titanium titans, will the now disbanded team rejoin forces to fight a threat while fighting their personal problems as well. Rated T for some violence, language and gore
1. Chapter 1

The dark figure glided silently over the path towards the old cabin, a small vial with a misty blue substance was held firmly in his large hand, his thumb across the stopper. He swept his other hand across the handle and opened the door, he walked into the cabin and entered the living room, a large open plan lounge with a dwindling fire that cracked as the pine knots exploded aggressively. This however was of no interest to the man, his eyes settled on another man sat in a chair asleep. His chest rose and fell in a hypnotic manner, his heavy breathing suggested he was asleep. The shadowy figure crept closer, moving his hand towards the sleeping man. He slipped the vial out and pulled the stopper off. The sleeping man's nose twitched, sensing danger like some sort of animal. The dark man was almost touching his sleeping victim. The glass vial touched the man's lips and the blue liquid slipped stealthily into his mouth, he coughed and woke up, grabbing the other man's cloak and throwing him across the room. The hooded man hit the wall with a crash and coughed out a spurt of blood "It's too late commander, the poison will kill you in twenty four hours". Zak's muscles tensed as he felt the poison shoot through his bloodstream, its cold tendrils sending goosebumps over his body. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his spine and he shivered.

The clock was ticking.

The soft wind blew across the long, green grass making a whispering sound. An eagle circled overheard blocking the sun like an avian parasol, looking for something to eat. Aptonoth grazed peacefully, munching methodically on grass and plants, lovingly nuzzling each others grey skin from time to time. Meg sat atop a ledge looking down onto the scene, dangling her legs over the edge while swinging them. A kelbi shuffled up to her and nudged her hand with it's nose, wanting a fuss, she giggled and stroked it while it whinnied in affection. The kelbi sat down next to her and dozed off as Meg watched the sun sink slowly into the horizon, the wind picked up and made her hair flutter freely in the wind. She stood up and walked into the cave, the kelbi following her, it was dark except for a small patch of orange where the dying light of the sun cascaded down from the roof. She trod carefully across the floor which was covered in decaying bones which crunched underfoot, making a quiet moist snap. As she reached the other side of the cave, the sun dropped past the horizon turning day into night. Meg drew her sword and looked round, the kelbi licked her arm and ran off to join a group of the deer like animals sat across from her. She ran back to base camp and dropped onto the bed, she heard it. She knew she heard it.

Zak stumbled down the alleyways of Pokke, hacking up blood. He tripped up and screamed in frustration. His vision was fuzzy and he was having flashbacks of what the man said

"_the antidote is in your bloodstream, its just a case of activating it". _What did that mean, he thought as he picked himself up. He brushed down his legs as a jolt of sharp, vicious pain shot up his spine. He roared in pain, clutching his back with his hands in a futile attempt to make it stop. A cat meowed at him as Zak kicked up murky puddles of water, writhing in pain. He kept going into the town, dark spots were appearing around his eyes "_You may experience some, side effects". _Zak fell again, he crawled forward, almost in the town square. He pulled himself along using his arms, they were becoming grazed and the flesh was visible. "HELP!" he cried as loud as he could, no one came. Zak spat blood onto the floor, he was almost at the fountain in the centre. "COME ON!" he screamed in frustration, angry at his unresponsiveness. He slithered up the steps and placed a bloody hand on the rim of the fountain before passing out.

The warm, humid mist lay low against the swamp floor creating a ghostly air. Arran slowly wandered past the skeletal trees, calm but cautious. A Gypceros slowly sniffed around, seeing him but knowing that the hunter wasn't here for him, he was here for a bigger prize.

The rain slowly hammered down on the roof of the building as Alexandor strode down the corridor. He reached a mahogany door and walked in to a spacious office filled with hunting trophies, a man sat behind an oak desk, a wry smile on his face. "Is it done?" he asked, Alexandor nodded and sat down "does he know how to activate the antidote?" Alexandor shook his head. The man nodded again. "Then you have done the shadow order a great deed my son, this man knows too much".


	2. Chapter 1 Part 2

Zak's eyes shot open as he leapt out of the fountain, the cold water gushing over his face, the sun was rising slowly, casting it's blood red light across the cobbled square. He staggered down the uneven steps, dripping wet. He looked up towards the sky and had a cold realisation, it was Alexandor who had done this. The Shadow Order was his calling now, they had ordered it on him. Zak fell to the floor, the poison reaching his heart. He didn't have much time, twenty minutes maybe, if he was lucky.

A harsh wind shot across the forest and hills as velociprey picked off aptonoth, an eagle swooped down in the darkness as it crushed a mouse, ripping flesh with it's razor like beak. Something was stirring, something big, something evil.

Meg walked through the forest, her boots barely touching the forest floor of dried leaves as she looked around nervously. A red spot winked in front of her, it danced around slowly, without a sound. Meg drew her sword and took a flash bomb out of her bag. She threw to the ground and in a brilliant flash, a huge black beast was revealed, with sharp fur along its body bristling in the cold wind, its wings were membranous with razor sharp tips. Its face was pointed, one eye was scarred while the other was lit up a brilliant red. Meg turned and ran, sprinting past the twisted trees, she could hear the rush of leaves as the monster followed her with tremendous speed. It was closing in.

Arran crouched behind a bush, watching the giant purple dragon eat. The chameleos, with the ability to turn invisible it was going to take all of Arran's skill to catch this elder dragon. He dropped his hunting horn down to the ground and ran stealthily across to the monster. He slammed his horn against its head, causing it to flinch as it flashed invisible. Arran reached for a paint ball and threw it towards the wildly flashing chameleos. He spotted the small blot of paint and hit the chameleos again, stunning it.

Zak leapt up, a rush of adrenaline shot through him, he raced down the streets and kicked in the apothecary's door, the little old man turned in fright but calmed when he saw Zak's face. Zak muttered slowly "I need an... antidote, shadow order poison". The apothecary nodded and proceeded in mashing together fire dragon powder, dragon herb and bitter bugs making a vile smelling liquid. Zak gulped it down, grimacing while he swallowed, however it did kick start his failing system, which hurt... a lot.

Meg turned around, sword in a guard position, ready to face this black beast. Yet, there was silence. Nothing stirred in the dense forest, she peered around, scouring the forest floor. Nothing, but a warm breeze from the treetops. Meg looked up and saw the beast grinning at her, it dropped on her and gored her arm. She screamed in agony, waving her sword at the black entity. Meg stumbled away as fast as she could. The beast leapt in front of her again, blocking her path. She cast a throwing knife in its eye as it screamed before dropping a far caster.

Dragovir castle stood menacingly at the top of minegarde, inside sat Alexandor musing his assassination of Zak, he knew it had all gone to plan, yet, Zak always managed to find something. Alexandor walked out of the room and was confronted by Elder Lyons, the leader of the Shadow Order, he was an old man with a head of little hair and a large scar crossing his face, leaving him with one cloudy false eye which seemed to burrow into the soul of those it looked at. "Sir, may I have permission to confirm the kill of the hunter?" Lyons' lips curled into a sneer as he rattled

"scared of failure Mr. Volfring?" Alexandor shook his head vigorously and replied curtly

"if I was afraid of failure Sir, why would I have taken this assignment in the first place?" Elder Lyons wheezed in laughter and nodded "if you wish".

Arran had trapped the chameleos and was sat on a rock as the guild observation team tranquillized it. A young guild knight came up to him and said "sir, a good capture is it not? I have news from minegarde, Zak requests your presence." Arran looked at the pale faced knight in confusion, the Titanium Titans had split up over a year ago "then I must go, is it urgent?" The guild boy nodded slowly. Arran mounted his kelbi and cantered towards minegarde.

Megan laid on her bed as her felyne attended to her wounds. There was a knock on the door and a minegarde messenger walked in "Ma'am, Zak requests your presence immediately." Megan sat up and asked slowly "what is it?" The messenger pulled out a scroll and his eyes scanned slowly down the page "it doesn't say ma'am, it just says of the utmost importance" Megan nodded and stood up, she turned to the messenger and asked "have you got a carriage, I may need a ride".


End file.
